Staffing and Recruiting

Expert Advice for Attracting, Hiring and Retaining Top Talent

The first quarter is a popular time for people to consider a job change, and for companies to move forward with hiring initiatives.

Crain's Custom Media turned to four Chicago-area executive search and staffing experts to get their thoughts about how companies can attract, hire and retain the best talent to keep their organizations moving forward.

Matt Massucci

Co-Founder, Managing PartnerHirewell

Matt Massucci is the co-founder and managing partner of Hirewell, a Chicago-based executive search, staffing, and recruitment process outsourcing firm. Hirewell’s more than 50 talent acquisition experts have deep experience in technology, HR, digital, and sales. Massucci has over 15 years of recruiting experience. He began his career as a consultant for Arthur Andersen and Deloitte Consulting, and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Jeremy Samuelson

Vice President - SalesADP

Jeremy Samuelson is the Chicago-based vice president of sales for ADP, a global provider of human capital management solutions that unites HR, payroll, talent, time, tax and benefits administration. He provides employers with a comprehensive HR outsourcing solution that helps reduce costs and complexities in employment and human resources management. He holds a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from Northern Illinois University.

Jim Wong

CEO, FounderBrilliant

Jim Wong is CEO and founder of Brilliant, a search, staffing and management resources firm specializing in accounting, finance and information technology. A certified public accountant (inactive), he has more than 20 years of experience in the accounting and staffing industries. He was named on the Staffing 100 List 2016 as one of the most influential people in the staffing industry for North America. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Northern Illinois University.

Adam Sprecher

Managing DirectorSALO

Adam Sprecher is managing director of the Chicago office of Salo, a staffing and consulting firm that places senior-level finance and accounting professionals on an interim, contract or direct-hire basis, and senior-level human resources consultants in on-demand, contract roles. He leads a team of “super-connectors” that build relationships with clients and top finance and accounting talent in the Chicago area. He has more than 15 years of experience in the recruiting industry and holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Augsburg College, Minneapolis.

Why is it important for a company to establish an employment brand?

Adam Sprecher: A strong employment brand communicates that your company is a great place to work and a great place to do business with. It informs your hiring and retention strategy and differentiates you in the marketplace, helping you attract the talent that aligns best with your organization and values.

Matt Massucci: There’s a tremendous amount of information available today to candidates about any prospective company and its culture. Savvy job seekers do extensive research and decide to pursue a company based on that research, without even talking to anyone. With the job market as tight as it is, a growing company should do everything it can to ensure it doesn’t miss out on the best prospective employees. That starts with a strong emphasis on building the brand, and using employees and external partners as “brand ambassadors.”

Jeremy Samuelson: If you want to attract and retain top talent, you need to build a reputation as an excellent employer. Look at how you stack up against your competition in terms of compensation, work-life balance, culture and opportunities for advancement. Survey recent hires or final-stage job candidates to see how you fare against other employers they considered. Differentiate your brand, and what makes your organization unique in terms of your value proposition. Focus on a few areas that resonate with your candidates’ top priorities. Consider adding a flexible workplace, a top-notch benefits package, wellness initiatives and work-life balance. Advocate for your brand through social platforms, videos and other digital content. By understanding our brand’s status, improving your value proposition, and becoming a visible force in the marketplace, you can align your employer brand with your long-term talent goals.

How can a company recruit and hire with a small HR staff that’s already overwhelmed?

Jim Wong: Divide and conquer the recruiting process using internal and external resources. Start with building a culture of continuous recruiting by creating referral bonuses for employees, establishing partnerships with specialized recruiting/staffing firms, and formulating metrics to establish a pipeline of candidates even when there are no current hiring needs. A specialized recruiting/staffing firm can help the HR staff and hiring manager develop the role description and candidate profile. Various digital tools, online job boards and social platforms make it easy to perform online searches for qualified professionals based off specific filters including work history, education, software experience and more to assess professionals for interview potential. For nonexecutive/C-suite roles, HR leaders can partner with a specialized contingency recruiting firm to compare candidates they have generated on their own with the recruiting firm’s candidates for no fee. The firm charges a fee only if the company moves with the hiring of their candidate. There’s generally a guarantee included, which ensures you’re evaluating candidates who you could not otherwise locate on your own.

Samuelson: Outsourcing is a viable solution, and finding the right partner—not just another vendor—is crucial to developing a strategic, long-term relationship. So is identifying and assessing a potential partner’s level of expertise and success in the recruiting and hiring arena. Focus, too, on issues such as dedicated and responsive service. Seek out the guidance of colleagues and fellow business owners, or ask the potential partner for a reference. Although this can take some time, it’s worth it in the long run to ensure you have the right partner to help you meet your needs so your HR team can focus on other initiatives. And the right partner can actually help save you money over the long-term due to reduced turnover rates.

Massucci: Build a culture where everyone’s aware of your hiring plans and makes an effort to attract great talent. Combine a strong employee referral program with the use of search firms or an outsourced recruiting solution. This relieves stress from your internal HR department and allows them to focus on employee relations, talent development and other activities.

Sprecher: Establish relationships with recruiting partners before a critical need arises. That includes making connections outside your area of expertise. Then when you have a need—or worse, an emergency—you already have a partner in place who knows who you are and how they can best help your business. Having a clear workforce plan will expedite this process and anticipate your need before it happens.

What’s your most effective method for finding top talent?

Wong: Many of our best hires come from networking with passive candidates—professionals who don’t have their resumes posted online because they’re content in their current role. Internal referrals from current employees who refer candidates from their network is another successful method.

Massucci: Leveraging existing employees and their network of friends and former co-workers has consistently been our best method—both internally and when managing the recruiting efforts for our clients. It accounts for 30 to 40 percent of all hires, and it’s the best indicator of long-term success.

Sprecher: We think of ourselves as “super connectors.” Nurturing connections in our networks is our most effective and rewarding way of sourcing talent. Whether it’s a contact we meet at a networking event, a referral from a client or someone who reaches out to us directly, we create, establish and cultivate relationships so that when the time is right, we have the talent, and the individual has the best options to help their goals.

Samuelson: Social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook reach passive candidates, and can be used to attract top talent. By regularly prompting communal conversations with career-themed questions and topic starters, you can create a talent community that top professionals are eager to participate in. Top talent consistently seeks ways to shine both in and out of the office, so their participation provides great insight to their professional work ethic. The best part about retaining active users is that the longer they participate within a community, the more familiar they will already be with a company, providing a great foundation prior to hire.

What’s the best way to attract a more diverse workforce?

Massucci: Define the mission or definition of a diverse workforce and how it will contribute to your organization’s success. Articulate it to everyone in your organization, and include it in job descriptions and employment marketing materials. Encourage recruiters and hiring managers to promote the message to applicants and candidates. Feature diversity efforts on your organization’s careers and LinkedIn pages, and promote them via social media. A strong employee referral program can also help diversify your workforce. We help companies attract diversity by developing relationships with local and national diverse organizations and by continuing to stay in tune with best practices in this area.

Samuelson: If you create an environment that truly cultivates a diverse workplace, your employees will do the talking for you, ultimately attracting new talent through recruitment and referrals. Gather and utilize testimonials regarding your diverse culture; after all, they’re your most trusted marketing tools. The more frequently candidates see and hear about your commitment, the more your company’s reputation will grow as a leader in cultural awareness and diversity.

What recruiting and staffing tactics resonate with particular generations, such as millennials?

Samuelson: Employee testimonials can be an effective way to communicate with candidates, because they can see and listen to people like themselves who presumably have the same job requirements and life concerns. Community involvement and giving back are cross-generational, so highlighting information about corporate philanthropy on a company’s careers site and social platforms is important. When communicating via social media, it’s not the platform so much as targeting your message to the candidate audience you’re seeking to attract: Millennials seek structure, support, enjoy teamwork, want to give back, and like “cool,” new technology; Gen-Xers seek learning opportunities, career advancement, independence, and want to be evaluated based on results; Baby Boomers are driven but want work-life balance and want to support the community; and the Silent generation wants to feel valued and wants flexible work schedules. Paying attention to these key points will increase audience engagement and help attract candidates.

Sprecher: We believe that it matters less whether you’re a Millennial or a Baby Boomer—many are looking for their own version of flexibility and meaningful work. We’re seeing less focus on titles and “having the corner office” and more on the impact that work has on careers and lifestyles. So we take time to understand our consultants’ career passions and connect it to work they do. In the hyper-connected world we live and work in today, technology has made an impact on the way we connect and build relationships. However, it doesn’t replace the significance of face-to-face connections. Strong relationships have never been more important, and you need to maintain face-to-face interactions to attract and recruit talent.

Massucci: Our philosophy is to adjust recruiting tactics based on the individual person. Every person has their own interests and desires in a new job. Adding a personal touch wherever possible to the recruiting process ensures a great experience for the job seeker, and a much higher chance of hiring high-potential performers. Ask top candidates what tactics or benefits would sway them to choose one company over another, and then try to incorporate their responses into the process.

How can benefits be used as a recruitment strategy?

Samuelson: Prospective hires want flexible self-service options from employers who understand their needs. Companies can attract talent by offering health plans that subsidize a significant portion of medical costs and provide online portals so they can manage their health care more efficiently on any device. Tuition subsidies are a way to bring in the best and the brightest and have them stick around long-term. For all generations, it’s becoming increasingly important to have clear advancement paths and career opportunities within the company, a chance to move both laterally and vertically over a short span of time. These opportunities for growth ultimately give employers a competitive advantage when retaining top talent. No recruitment strategy would be complete without vacation. Companies are choosing to be more adaptable with both vacation time and work hours, allowing employees to set their own schedules and take time off as necessary. A mix of strong benefits to fit unique needs will help in recruiting and will strengthen your workforce.

Massucci: Every prospective job seeker cares about benefits. If you’ve got a great benefits plan, publicize it. A few creative benefits can go a long way toward attracting talent and bolstering company culture. Things like flex time, opportunities for community service or working remotely, and company-sponsored sport teams or fitness classes are all low-cost options that can help with recruiting and increase employee satisfaction.

Sprecher: There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Start with clearly defined organizational values and determine how your talent and benefits strategy can uphold those values. Know what matters most to those you want to hire and retain, as well as what your competitors offer. Then get to work integrating your benefits into your recruitment strategy. By offering benefits that align with your company values and the needs of your employees, you are better positioned to attract talent. Organizations rarely have the perfect plan, so it’s important to be open to evolving your approach on an ongoing basis.

How can prospective candidates evaluate an organization against others in an industry?

Massucci: Start with research on the internet; there are plenty of places to look. Look at employees on LinkedIn and compare their backgrounds as well as how long they’ve been with the company. Talk to former employees, clients, vendors and others about their experience with the organization. Review the company’s annual reports, press releases and social media accounts to get insight into its goals and values. Glassdoor is another avenue to get information, but take the reviews with a grain of salt. Every company has disgruntled employees; one or two anonymous internet posts shouldn’t sway your decision too much. Identify your motivators, incentives and happiness must-haves ahead of time so you know what to look for as you do your comparisons. Once you define the things that inspire you to do your best work, you can start to look for those things at the companies where you’re considering applying.

Wong: Most businesses have websites, social media accounts, a presence on review sites, and more. A simple Google search can direct you to recent news, reviews, testimonials, culture or other information you can find to educate yourself on the company’s ethics, integrity, performance and quality of services. The best due diligence, however, is often through your personal or professional network. With social media, it’s not too difficult to find a person who can introduce you to someone at the company you’re researching.

Sprecher: Evaluate several areas, including your personal connection with the work, the leader, the team and the organization. If you simply focus on a company’s brand, you may later find that the work or leader isn’t a match. Or, you may follow a leader, then find that the values of the organization aren’t in line with your own. Creating a list of requirements can be helpful, similar to the decision to purchase a house. List the things you have to have, those that you would like to have, and what would be nice to have. Evaluate what you want and list the pros and cons, compare against the other options. Then, ask yourself what you’re willing to compromise on, and what you’ll stand firm on. Then use your facts and your instincts to make the best decision for you.

What skillsets are in the highest demand in Chicago?

Wong: At the executive management level, accounting, finance and IT managers who know how to blend their role with business operations are in demand. At the midlevel and junior staff levels, accounting and finance candidates with strong enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems aptitude and financial modeling are in demand, as are those experienced in SEC reporting, audit, tax provision and revenue recognition. For midlevel and junior IT professionals, there’s big demand for those with software and database administration experience. We also get a lot of requests for business analysts, project managers, mobile applications developers, and professionals experienced in e-commerce and cyber security.

Sprecher: Finance and accounting are always in high demand. We’re seeing specific needs currently in finance organization management (e.g. process optimization, finance service delivery, and building or redesigning of accounting functions), as well as capital efficiency (cash forecasting, cash flow model design). This demonstrates that organizations are working to build and evolve as they grow—which is a great sign.

Massucci: Technology and engineering have been in high demand for years and we don’t see that changing. Digital marketing continues to be one of the most in-demand areas, as companies look to develop in-house expertise versus relying on outside advertising and marketing agencies. Recruiters and talent acquisition experts are also among the most in-demand roles. Ironically, finding strong recruiters has been one of the harder things for us.

What hiring trends do you see for 2017?

Wong: Economists are predicting the unemployment rate to fall, which means that the war for talent will continue, driving up salaries and increasing the need for companies to offer benefits and perks. The number of full-time vacancies will create a need for temporary and interim professionals to take up the slack.

Massucci: We expect interest in recruitment process outsourcing to continue. Mid-sized and large organizations, especially, will continue to rely on contingent staffing and consultants. And, as benefits costs rise, staffing companies will experience increased demand since they reduce the number of full-time employees a company needs.

Sprecher: We’ll see an uptick in the number of Baby Boomers retiring, highlighting the need to have proactive knowledge-transfer plans in place. What’s worked in the past won’t work in the future, especially given the tight labor market. Every organization will need to consider new ways to recruit.

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